Beautiful Disaster
by broadwaystarxoxo
Summary: Rebecca Katsopolis is going downhill. Fast. But what's a girl to do when family is the only remedy, and yet her family is falling apart at the very seams? Read & Review!
1. Chapter 1

**"If I could hold on, through the tears and the laughter, would it be beautiful? Or just a beautiful disaster?"**

**-Kelly Clarkson, _Beautiful Disaster_**

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><p><em>Thursday, July 25<em>_th__, 2005. Midnight._

Rebecca Katsopolis shut the door hard and leaned her back on the wall, sliding down until she was sitting in an upwards fetal position. She had no idea what to do. Times like these were when she needed Jesse the most.

Well, alcohol was a good enough substitute.

Becky took off her heels and placed them at the foot of the Tanner household staircase. Ten years and she was still not used to the fact that this house wasn't full anymore.

Ten years ago her eldest niece, DJ Tanner, turned eighteen, moved out, and went to college. She hadn't been back since, save for family dinners once every few months. She was married now and was professionally Donna-Jo Tanner Hale (although the family still called her Deej, much to her annoyance).

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><p><em>Friday, December 24<em>_th__, 2003. 6:09 PM._

"_Aunt Becky, not you too!" Donna Jo groaned._

"_DJ, I just think that Danny'd enjoy seeing the grandchild you neglected to mention to us for your entire pregnancy and his first two months of life. Please, just Christmas day dinner. It'd make us all happy," Becky pleaded into the phone._

"_Steve and I just want to be _alone_ with Noah for his first Christmas. It's bad enough that Steph's been driving down here once a week because she misses me. I don't want you guys to be all up on us all the time. For God's sake, I'm twenty-six."_

"_Sweetie, just one dinner isn't too much to ask when you live half an hour away and yet you never come by. You haven't seen us in forever."_

_Donna Jo was silent for a few moments. Becky checked the phone screen to see if she hung up. Finally, she heard a shaky breath on the other line. "Yes, I have, actually. I see you every day on national television. I see Dad and Vicky on "Wake Up, San Francisco". I see Uncle Jesse on his PayPerView concerts and on MTV. I hear Joey on the radio all the time."_

_Although Rebecca was touched that her niece watched and listened to all of them for the sake of seeing and hearing their voices, she had to take the adult role. "Deej, it's not the same."_

"_You know what?"_

"_What?"_

"_It's good enough for me."_

_And Becky heard the dial tone._

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><p>Rebecca shook her head, not wanting to think about how much things had changed. She made her way to the kitchen, still seeing spots from the flashing cameras that bombarded the outside of her taxi, her ears still ringing from the yelling and shouting and TMI questions and the clicks of tape recorders. If there were no such thing as the right of private property, they'd probably have their noses smudged up against the glass of the living room window.<p>

Becky flipped the kitchen lights on in search of some Cabernet; she was sick of it all at this point. She knew she had work tomorrow and couldn't afford to show up on a hangover, but she just did not care. Regis could find a willing substitute for her for the day in five seconds.

The Katsopolis woman snatched the dark bottle from the wineglass holder and leaned against the wall. It had been opened before and was half empty, so she easily yanked out the cork. She knew that if Danny came down right now he'd kill her for not using a glass, but like before, she just did not care. She brought the bottle to her lips and sipped a little bit, trying to chase away memories of when she found her second eldest niece at fourteen years old in this position with a bottle of vodka.

Ten years ago, Stephanie Tanner was still a troubled twelve year-old girl. Becky winced when she remembered how close they'd gotten after DJ moved out; Becky was then not only her mother figure, but her older-sister figure as well. But about a year later, during Becky's second pregnancy, Stephanie got into some bad things while the family was focused on the upcoming baby girl. One thing happened after another and before she knew it, she was in a hole too deep to dig herself out and went to juvie on her fifteenth birthday for truancy, shoplifting, and underage drinking. She got out a month later and was immediately transferred to a residential treatment center for addiction to alcohol and bulimia. Now, at twenty-two years old, the middle Tanner was at college, still struggling.

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><p><em>Wednesday, February 11<em>_th__, 1997. 1:22 AM._

"_Stephanie?" Rebecca gasped, recognizing the blonde from the stairs. "Stephanie Judith Tanner…"_

_The fourteen year old looked as if she'd heard her name being called from a distance. "Huh?"_

_Becky ran over and crouched down, snatching the large empty bottle from the girl's trembling hand and reading the label. _

"_Oh my God," Becky whispered, putting a hand to her forehead. It was the Grey Goose that Joey and Jesse kept hidden behind the ten boxes of spaghetti "in case of emergency". Emergency being that Danny was on a business trip and he wouldn't bitch to them for having a small glass at dinner._

_And the last she checked, it was a new bottle._

"_Steph, can you hear me?" Becky pleaded, shaking her niece's arms. _

_Stephanie, whose head was leaning against the wineglass holder, lifted her head. "Gia?"_

_Becky was confused for a moment but then her whole body shook with anger. So Gia Mahan was the one up to this? _

"_Steph, it's Aunt Becky."_

"_Is Gia here?" Stephanie mumbled, looking around. Rebecca tried to remain calm when she saw the girl's bright blue innocent eyes were bloodshot. _

"_No," the twenty-nine year-old snapped. "_Was _she here?"_

_Stephanie nodded. "Don't tell Dad, Aunt Becky. She snuck in and told me that we should get wasted. She said it was fun. And so I told her where the vodka was and she said that if I drank the whole bottle nothing bad would happen. She said it proved I was cool. I think she left after I started, though."_

"_And you believed her," Becky whispered, knowing that she had to either get the girl to throw it all up or she might get alcohol poisoning. Getting her to the hospital was not an option, as the closest hospital was twenty minutes away. They wouldn't make it in time._

"_Where's that syrup of ipecac…" Becky muttered to herself, not wanting to leave Stephanie's side._

_Stephanie looked into her aunt's eyes, and for the first time in a long time Becky could see the innocent, dependant, frightened little girl she'd seen many times in the past. Rebecca grasped the teenager's hand. "Aunt Becky, I…Gia taught me how to…I can get it out myself."_

"_Wha…"_

_And then the young teenager did exactly that, and along with it she made Becky cry more than she had ever before._

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><p>Before she knew it, Rebecca was chugging away her painful memories. She finally forced herself to set the bottle down before it was halfway gone. She jammed the cork back in and trudged up the kitchen stairs to the second story.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

_Previously in Beautiful Disaster:_

_Before she knew it, Rebecca was chugging away her painful memories. She finally forced herself to set the bottle down before it was halfway gone. She jammed the cork back in and trudged up the kitchen stairs to the second story._

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><p><strong>"Is this as hard as it gets? Is this what it feels like to really cry?"<strong>

**-Kelly Clarkson, _Cry_**

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><p>At the top, Becky clutched the railing and looked down the long hallway at all the doors. Four white doors that ten years ago used to contain the rooms of the people she loved were now shut tightly, with only two of them having inhabitants: Michelle's and Danny's. Stephanie was obviously now sleeping in her college dorm, and DJ hadn't touched her doorknob in ten years. Joey and his fiancé Corinna had moved out two years ago. Michelle was going into her senior year of high school and Danny had gotten married to Vicky three years ago. Her life had been crumbling away for ten years and there was nothing she could do about it.<p>

Rebecca walked up another short flight of stairs to her immediate family's attic apartment. As soon as she walked in she noticed the light on in one of the two rooms branching out from the master bedroom/living area. Becky rolled her eyes. "Rachel Nicole Katsopolis, go to _bed_."

"Ah, Mom, I'm on Skype with Steph. Can this wait?" the ten year old Katsopolis groaned.

"Your cousin?" Becky asked, her eyes widening. She hadn't seen her middle niece in a few months. Rebecca opened the door of her daughter's bedroom.

Sure enough, fixing her hair in the screen was the blondest Tanner, grinning widely when she saw her aunt. Becky couldn't help but flash back to her episode in the kitchen minutes ago and tried to keep her terrible memories of Stephanie out as she sat on the bed next to her brunette daughter.

"Hey, Aunt Becky," Stephanie said, readjusting her webcam.

"Steph, I haven't seen you in ages," Becky said, smiling. She was glad that this distraction came to her. She needed to think about something other than the paparazzi bombarding her just a few minutes ago.

"I've seen you on TV every morning, but that doesn't count," Stephanie said, grinning. "I'm so happy for you. You're practically a celebrity now, Aunt Becky!"

Rebecca grinned, but deep inside she really wanted to cry. "Thank you, Steph."

Someone off-screen suddenly shouted, "Hey, Tanner, you _coming_?"

Stephanie held up her finger to the screen as if to say _one second_ and turned around in her chair. "I didn't know there was a party tonight, not fair!" she laughed. "I'm Skype-ing with my cousin right now, I'll be there in a little bit."

"You can't drive your car, _remember_?" a different girl shouted from another direction. Stephanie's face turned red and she looked at the screen for a moment. "Rach, I'll be back in a sec…" she said nervously, setting her laptop down and moving off screen. Rachel looked at her mother questioningly. Becky had an eerie feeling that she knew what was going on, and her heart pounded faster.

"Whose party is it?" she heard Stephanie ask in an attempted hushed voice.

"Beta Phi Nu; the hot fraternity!" a girl shouted loudly.

"I…I don't know. Last time I went to one of their parties…"

"A DUI isn't the end of the world, Steph."

Becky's eyes widened. "Rach, go brush your teeth."

"I already did…"

"Please, just let me have a moment with your cousin," she whispered. Rachel reluctantly obeyed and shut the door loudly, mumbling to herself. Becky fixated her eyes on the screen again and listened.

"It is when you get three in a fricking row," Stephanie growled. "I haven't even been sober for two months yet, okay? I can't go; you know what'll happen."

"Aww, is Stephanie Goody-Two-Shoes Tanner gonna lose her chips again?" one of the girls sang. Laughter was heard and then a door slammed. Stephanie got back on screen a few moments later, faking a smile.

"Okay, so where were we."

"Stephanie."

Stephanie sighed. "You heard. I'm…I have to go, Aunt Becky. I've been having a rough time."

"Apparently. Well, we're not done with this conversation. Love you, Steph." Stephanie only sighed and nodded before she shut off the monitor.

"Rach, go to bed now," Becky said as she walked out of her daughters' rom. "No more Skype-ing with Stephanie until I have a talk with her, okay?"

Rachel Katsopolis shrugged and yawned, closing the door to her room.

Becky turned and looked at the clock. 12:43 AM. She opened the door next to Rachel's room to check on her twelve year old twins, Nicky and Alex. Their light was off, but sure enough, they were both watching TV.

They hadn't noticed their mother yet, so Rebecca grabbed the remote control from the dresser and shut the TV off.

"Mom, you're home?" Nicky asked in a panicked voice. "We were just meaning to turn it off, we fell asleep, I'm sorry, we didn't mean to be up so late, and it was Alex's idea…"

"Will you shut up?" Alex groaned. "Mom, can we please just watch this until one?"

Becky chuckled silently. Her identical blonde sons were always getting into trouble.

"Well, that depends on what you're watching," she said.

"It's the first exhibition game of the season, and the quarterback just sprained his knee," Alex explained. "We recorded it and we're watching it now so we can fast forward the commercials." Becky sighed, not wanting to fight with her eldest children tonight. She flipped it back on just as it went to commercial.

"Nice going, Mom," Alex muttered. Alex definitely took after his father.

"Hey, when's dad supposed to come home?" Nicky asked his mother, almost as if he read her mind.

"Yesterday," Becky muttered after a few moments. Nicky understandingly turned away from his mother to give her a moment to fume. Jesse's band's world tour ended three days before and he was supposed to be home by yesterday, but of course he wasn't.

"Bed," Becky snapped, all of the sudden impatient with everything around her. She couldn't help it; that's what thinking about Jesse did to her. She snatched the remote from Alex and turned off the TV. "Night, munchkins."

"Night Mom," they muttered, knowing better than to irk her when she was in this kind of a mood. She gently closed the door and turned around to observe the family room/her and Jesse's master bedroom, putting her hands on her hips.

There was a knock on the door and Rebecca Katsopolis cocked her head. Who could that be? All at once it clicked: it had to be Jesse. It couldn't _not _be Jesse.

For her sanity's sake, it had _better _be Jesse.

She found herself speed walking to the door, ready to question her husband for exactly five minutes before she forgave him and hugged him and cuddled with him. Paparazzi had been particularly rough on her since he had left for his tour, and she was ready to hug him and have him tell her it was okay.

Rebecca stopped at the door, mentally preparing herself and putting on her best stern face. She then ran her fingers through her hair to eliminate any crazy strands and opened the door, her arms crossed.

Michelle raised an eyebrow. "Someone looks mad."

Becky closed her eyes in frustration. "What do you want, Michelle? It's almost one in the morning. Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"I was going to ask the same question," Michelle Tanner answered quickly. "Can I come in?"

Becky rolled her eyes and stepped aside. The almost eighteen-year-old breezily walked through the door. Becky had known this girl since she was two or three.

"You would think I was your secretary or something. While you were all depressed or whatever downstairs, you got two phone calls. I guess you didn't hear the phone ring. Dad was fast asleep so I had to get it."

"Who were they from?" Becky asked, uninterested. Michelle sat on the couch and put her feet up on the coffee table as if she owned the place. Becky didn't mind.

"One was from your agent. He wanted to tell you that you and Regis have a press conference next week. The other one was from Uncle Jesse."

Becky's eyes widened. "Wha-what'd he say?"

"He said he wanted you and me to come get him from the airport tomorrow. He said his flight had been cancelled and that he couldn't get phone service until now."

Rebecca exhaled loudly through her nose. "I have work tomorrow morning. I have work pretty much every morning; does he not know that? Michelle, can you pick him up by yourself? Do you need someone to go with you? I can go with you if we just wait till the show's over, or..."

Michelle shook her head. "Aunt Becky, I have my license. I don't need you to go everywhere with me when I drive like when I was fifteen."

Rebecca sat in silence. She knew Michelle was still in denial. In fact, she probably would always be in denial about it. Becky knew that the doctor said that it was okay for her to practice driving by herself, but it was Becky's motherly instinct kicking in.

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><p><em>August 17<em>_th__, 1995. 8:00 AM._

"_Well, Michelle, are you happy that you remember everyone now?" the doctor asked eight year old Michelle Tanner at her check-up. He had requested to perform some post-accident tests on her brain functionality and to trace any other signs of head trauma. After Michelle had fallen off of her horse a month before and lost her memory for a few days, he didn't want to take any other chances._

_Becky and Jesse sat in the two plastic chairs in the office, and Michelle was perched on top of the patient examining table. She was obviously bored, ripping off small pieces of the sanitary paper she was sitting on top of. Danny had work that day and had asked Becky and Jesse to take her to the check-up. Becky had the day off that day._

"_Yeah," Michelle said, yawning. _

"_Any headaches?" the doctor asked her._

_Michelle contemplated this for a moment. "Sometimes." _

_He nodded and wrote something down. "Okay, well, I'm going to talk to your aunt and uncle in private for a minute. You're welcome to play in the toy area in the waiting room until we're finished."_

_Michelle shrugged and wordlessly hopped off the table, shutting the door behind her when she walked out of the room. That was odd for her, but then again, doctors offices always made Michelle uncomfortable._

_Dr. Lawson turned to the Katsopolis couple. He looked down at the papers in his hand for a whole minute. They were Michelle's test results._

"_What is it doctor? She's okay, right?" Jesse asked. Becky held his right hand in both of hers. He was always protective of Michelle, ever since she was a baby._

"_Yeah, she's been acting normal and everything. Is there something wrong?" Becky inquired._

_Dr. Lawson sighed. "It really was remarkable that Michelle recovered from her memory loss and head trauma so quickly. I wasn't expecting it to be so fast. Going into the tests, I was certain that everything would come out fine."_

_Becky felt Jesse tense, and she squeezed his hand to calm him down. They said nothing and waited for Dr. Lawson to speak again._

"_Luckily, most of her brain is functioning completely normal," he said. "When she first came to the hospital I was expecting much more damage."_

"Most _of her brain?" Jesse asked._

_Dr. Lawson paused again. "You know, with head injuries, we can never know what to expect. Michelle did have some remaining head trauma, and some permanent side effects are going to occur because of it. They aren't as bad as they could be; Michelle really got lucky."_

"_What side effects are you talking about?" Becky asked, knowing Jesse wanted to ask but didn't want to at the same time._

"_Well, first off, she's definitely going to struggle more in school. She's going to have a harder time comprehending and understanding the information being taught to her. In middle school and high school she may have to be placed in classes that go at a slower pace than normal classes do. She's also going to have a slowed reaction time to certain things. She will probably have to practice driving for a lot longer than other kids do."_

"_Is that all?" Jesse asked._

"_Yes, for now. I'd like to see her again in a few weeks," Dr. Lawson said. He stood up and shook both Katsopolis hands. They wordlessly walked back into the waiting room, Michelle's diagnosis in hand. Jesse stopped abruptly in the waiting room door and Becky had to stop as well so as not to bump into him._

_She followed his gaze and saw him staring at Michelle. She was sitting on the floor, flipping through a Highlights magazine. Becky leaned her head on Jesse's shoulder and hugged his arm. She looked up at her husband and could see a tear in his eye._

_Michelle didn't deserve this._

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><p>Becky exhaled loudly, shaking her head and trying to focus.<p>

"Okay. If you need _anything…_please call me. My agent'll probably answer if we're on air, but during commercial break I'll check my phone. And try to stay off the interstate; back roads get you to the airport just as quickly."

Michelle started laughing. "Aunt Becky, I got this. Thanks for your concern, though. Goodnight."

"Night," Becky said, giving her youngest niece a quick hug before she walked away.

Becky changed quickly out of her uncomfortable designer dress and into sweats and a t-shirt. She curled up into her and Jesse's king-sized bed alone once again.

She wondered why her family had to be like this. She remembered the old days, when the whole family would sit around the table together. It was a tight squeeze, but they didn't mind. Jesse would fix his hair in a spoon and then put his arm around her shoulders. Joey would tell some cheesy joke using a cartoon voice, which in turn would have the young Nicky and Alex in hysterics. DJ and Stephanie would be bickering about something trivial and then make up moments later. Michelle would be trying to get everyone to listen to her stories about how her day had been. Danny would be laughing at everyone's jokes.

And Becky would take it all in, enjoying the love and warmth that surrounded her while it lasted.

Who knew it had to end so soon?

DJ hadn't spoken to the family in ages for no reason that Becky could think of. Sweet, sweet Stephanie was a juvenile delinquent with an alcohol addiction. Michelle wasn't exactly the cream of the crop in her class and everyone knew that she probably wasn't going to get into a university like she had always dreamed. And Becky's own husband didn't ever bother to kiss her goodnight anymore.

Rebecca Katsopolis buried herself deeper into the covers, wondering how it had all gone wrong. She felt herself let a tear escape. And then another one.

Becky wondered if she'd ever cried so hard in her life.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey guys, here's a new chapter. I just thought I should point out some changes I've made, and I've already edited the first two chapters with those small changes. it's nothing too serious or big, so there's no need to re-read anything! But as you may recall, in the previous chapters Nicky and Alex were fourteen, and Rachel (Jesse and Becky's daughter) was twelve. After some revising I realized that this would be impossible, since I had said before that ten years ago Becky was pregnant with Rachel. So all I changed was that Nicky and Alex are now twelve, and Rachel is ten. Like I said, nothing drastic! :) But I like to let y'all know so you don't get confused.

Thank y'all SO much for reading! Your reviews literally make my day. Sorry if this story is a little dark at some parts, but I really like writing dramatic, dark stuff :) And next chapter will be very...climatic!

Okay, enough of my babbling...

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><p>"<strong>She wants to go home, but nobody's home. That's where she lies, broken inside. With no place to go, no place to go to dry her eyes. Broken inside."<strong>

**-Avril Lavigne, **_**Nobody's Home**_

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><p><em>Saturday, June 27<em>_th__, 2005._

Becky heard the boys open and close the door to the stairs and knew that it was morning time. Although she could feel the sunlight on her eyelids, she didn't want to open her eyes just yet. She felt Jesse's arms wrapped around her and she could smell his hair gel. That had become a reassuring scent to her over the years. She felt him kiss her head softly, whispering that he loved her. She could hear the family downstairs in the kitchen, having multiple conversations while all pitching in to make breakfast. She heard Stephanie and DJ arguing over who had to set the table. Danny was carefully explaining the process of flipping a perfect pancake to Joey.

Becky opened her eyes and sat up. The house was silent. The bed was empty.

She groaned and rubbed her eyes as she ripped the covers off herself and trudged over to the door. She didn't bother getting dressed; she had the day off today. It was the first time in a while that she didn't have to wake up at four AM. She ambled down the stairs, completely aware that she still had somewhat of a hangover from two nights before. Becky didn't drink very often, so half a bottle of wine in one sitting didn't prove to come from her best judgment.

When she finally got down to the kitchen, the lights were off. Becky flipped on the lights and stepped onto the linoleum floors, surveying the scene before her. The table was piled high with crap, as usual. They hadn't eaten at it in years. The kids would eat dinner in their rooms, Danny and Vicky would always eat out at night, and Jesse would eat in his basement recording studio as he wrote songs.

She heard someone else bounding down the stairs and turned around. It was Rachel, already dressed for her early morning volleyball practice.

"Morning, Mom," she mumbled, opening the cabinet and searching for a granola bar. "Where's Dad?"

She asked the question as if it were just a placeholder. It didn't sound like a true concern, just a habit that she'd picked up over the years. Becky was certain that if she answered with, "On the moon," her daughter wouldn't notice. She wasn't really paying attention because she knew the answer already. But Becky answered anyway.

"I don't know. I guess at a photoshoot with the band. I think he said something about that yesterday."

"Okay," Rachel said. "I'm going to go ahead and walk to practice. Coach likes it when we get there early so we can set up the nets."

Rebecca nodded. The volleyball gym that Rachel's team practiced at was just two blocks away. Becky and Jesse used to make Nicky or Alex walk her to practice, but by now they figured that Rachel knew the San Francisco streets well enough to get there on her own.

"Where are your brothers?" she asked. Some part of her wanted to keep her daughter here and let her skip practice. She wanted to watch movies and laugh at small things for hours with her only daughter as she used to with DJ and Stephanie. But Becky knew better.

Rachel shrugged as she stood on the counter to reach the top shelf where the granola bars were located. "I think Dad drove Nicky to the skate park and Alex went over to his friend's pool."

Becky nodded. She was silent while Rachel hopped down from the counter, her brunette ponytail swinging as she landed on the white kitchen floor. She ripped open the wrapper and took a bite. She was making her way to the kitchen door when Becky spoke up, desperate to talk about something to somebody.

"So, uh, are there any cute boys in your class?"

Rachel stopped and turned around. Her eyebrow was raised, her expression skeptical. "Bye, Mom."

Becky sat down at the kitchen table and didn't move for quite some time. She was contemplating whether or not she should go for her usual morning jog. She usually went for jogs at four in the morning so that she could have time to get to the studio before _Live with Regis & Becky_ started. But she woke up too late this morning, as she always did on her few days off. There were too many people, and people meant cell phones, and cell phones meant cameras, and Becky wasn't in the mood for taking pictures with people or, even worse, people taking her picture and sending it to _US Weekly_.

It was then that she saw a McDonald's bag sitting on top of a large stack of Danny's paperwork that was scattered haphazardly on the dinner table. Becky picked it up and saw a sticky note on it.

_To: Becky. Love, Jesse. _

Becky smiled faintly. This was the first act of kindness he'd given her since he'd gotten back the day before. He got home, gave her a peck on the cheek, hugged her for one second, and was back out the door to go to dinner with his band. She had barely felt him crawl back into bed at one in the morning, and she was completely aware that he wasn't even facing her as he slept.

She opened the bag and pulled out the sausage biscuit. She ate it in silence. Even after ten years, it was still odd to have the house empty and quiet, void of any people.

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><p><em>January 19<em>_th__, 1996. 12:07 PM._

"_Happy birthday dear Stephanie, happy birthday to you!" _

_Becky leaned against the wall, smiling as she watched her middle niece blow out the fourteen candles that Danny had so carefully arranged on her homemade cake. It was chocolate with pink frosting, as she had requested. Steph had invited about twelve friends to go to the movies with her later that night, but she had wanted a family celebration earlier in the day. _

_Becky pressed her hands to her swollen stomach; it was an instinct now, really. It was also a really convenient place to rest her hands. She eight and a half months along with a baby girl and was due the next week. Jesse was standing next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. Becky sighed, still loving when he did that. It made her feel safe and secure, knowing that her husband was always going to be there for her._

"_Can you hurry up? I'm starving over here," Michelle protested. This caused giggles among the family, and Joey made an effort to cut the cake faster. _

_DJ was standing in the back of the kitchen. Becky hadn't seen her since she'd moved out to go to college. She had come back to San Francisco with rather unexpected news: she and Steve were engaged. However, DJ seemed different. It seemed that whenever one of her family members tried to talk to her, she would get annoyed very easily. She acted as if coming to her little sister's birthday celebration was a chore rather than a close family gathering._

_All of the sudden, Becky felt a pang of pressure across her lower midsection. She gasped quietly, automatically lurching forward. Jesse instinctively tightened his grasp on her arm._

"_Becky, are you alright?" Danny asked, walking over to her._

"_Babe, do you need us to take you to the hospital?" Jesse asked, his tone very concerned._

_Rebecca stood up and shook her head. "No, no, I'm fine. I'm good."_

"_Are you sure?" Jesse asked again, looking her in the eye. Becky nodded with gusto. It had only been a short pain, nothing to fret over._

_After eating the cake, the family made their way to the living room, where Stephanie was to open her gifts._

"_Open ours first!" Nicky and Alex yelled as they set the Katsopolis's present down next to the birthday girl. Stephanie smiled at the two year olds. _

"_Okay, okay, I will."_

_As Stephanie started to rip open the purple paper, Becky felt the same pressure she had felt earlier. She was able to contain her reaction this time, but it lasted for a longer period of time now. She felt her face turning red, but no one else was looking at her._

"_Oh my goodness...it's beautiful," Stephanie said immediately putting on the necklace. "Aunt Becky, Uncle Jesse, thank you so much."_

"_Nah, don't thank me, Becky was the one that picked it out. She knew you'd love it."_

_All eyes were on Rebecca at that point. She smiled. She and Stephanie had gotten considerably close during the past year or so that DJ had been gone. They would go shopping together, watch movies, and just have good old-fashioned girl talk. Becky savored that time with her niece, since she hadn't had a daughter to do those things with before._

"_You're so welcome, Steph. Come here, gimme a hug!"_

_Stephanie got up and started to walk over to her aunt. However, Becky suddenly felt a third pang of pressure in the same place she had felt it before. This time it was harder. Rebecca dug her fingernails into her palms, trying to contain the pain, but it was too much. She let out a scream and doubled over. She knew very well what was coming; after all, she'd been pregnant before. It was horrible timing. She knew that Stephanie already felt as if her aunt did not care about her anymore because she'd been focusing so much on the baby; she didn't need to steal the show from Stephanie on her fourteenth birthday, too. But she couldn't deny it: she was going into labor._

"_Becks, I'll walk you to the car. Danny! Call the doctor and tell him she's in labor!" Jesse instructed, trying to keep his voice calm. It wasn't working very well, but she loved him for trying._

_Before she made it out the front door, Rebecca caught a glimpse of Stephanie sitting on the couch. She looked as if she was trying to smile, but instead she was tracing the pattern on the carpet with her feet, lonely on her special day._

_And Becky felt a pang of guilt that was even harder than her labor pains._

* * *

><p>Rebecca finally made the executive decision to get out of the house. She was going to go insane being alone all day. She quickly ran upstairs and started to change into her running clothes. She flipped on the TV as she brushed her hair, pulling it up into a ponytail.<p>

"Hey, I'm Danny," she heard a familiar voice ringing from the small TV speakers.

"And I'm Vicky. Welcome to _Wake Up, San Francisco!_"

Becky was instantly nostalgic. She remembered when she said that line every single day. She felt bad, missing her old job. Anyone would give both their arms and a foot to co-host with Regis Philbin on one of the nation's most-watched talk shows. Out of all the news personalities in the country, Becky was the one that received a phone call saying that they wanted her to replace Kathie Lee. She was the one in a million that they decided was the best fit.

Rebecca loved her job. She loved being on morning TV and having people all across the country rely on her to deliver the latest on entertainment, local news, national news, and everything in between. And to get payed almost four times more than her previous show to do it was an even bigger bonus.

But when everyone in the country sees your face every morning, it leads to recognition. Recognition leads to autographs and pictures. Pictures end up in magazines. Paparazzi chase you and follow you everywhere you go, waiting for a mistake to be made so that the whole world can hear about how you tripped on the stairs at the mall with your daughter.

That was what Becky hated about her job.

She walked down the stairs and paused at the front door. The park was three blocks away. She could make it.

Outside, she prepared for the worst. She expected cameras to be set up right in front of her front door. She found it a pleasant surprise when the only lights flickering were the porch lights as she turned them off. Becky kept her sunglasses on although it wasn't particularly sunny that day.

She started to jog on the sidewalk, making her way to the park. With every step she became less tense and uncomfortable being out in public. She had not been able to do this for a long time, and she felt relieved. Maybe the paparazzi had moved on to bigger and better people.

At the next crosswalk there was a stop light, so Becky halted and popped her MP3 headphones into her ears. Instantly, one of Jesse's band's songs was playing.

All at once, Rebecca felt the anger building up inside of her. Sure, she was happy for him. She was happy that his lifelong dream of being in a word-famous rock band had come true after all these years. But that didn't give him an excuse to all of the sudden stop caring about his family. In the beginning, before his first tour, he had wrapped his arms around her and said one thing: "Becks, listen, I'm going to miss you and the kids so much this month. But I'm gonna promise you something: no matter what happens, no matter how popular this band gets, you and the kids will always be my number one. Always and forever."

Becky scoffed when the crosswalk turned into the walking man sign, giving her permission to cross into the park. _Sure, we'll always be your number one_, she thought sarcastically. _Except for the days when you don't feel like it._

She wasn't sure how much longer she could take it.

Not much longer at all, she decided.


End file.
